Oh Captain, My Captain
by RogueMetamorph
Summary: "Why do you defend him? A filthy pirate?... Is this love, little Meg?" "Love is for children... I nearly killed myself with my sorrow years back… he saved my life. He took me in when I had nowhere to go. He's my friend and I owe him my life," Just as they both loved the sea, they both loved each other. A pirate captain and a female deckhand. AU. Hook/OC.
1. A Whole New World

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

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**Disclaimer:**** I don't own **_**Once Upon A Time **_** (the television, its characters, dialogue, all of the other fairytales that **_**Once Upon A Time**_** has redone or etc.) I also don't own any other book, movie, song or character I may have mentioned along the way. I just so happened to use it for non-profitable fun in my spare time. **

**Author's Note:**** This is an AU story for Hook and Meg. In this story Meg is an OC until something happens to her to make her a version of Ariel that we know from Disney. This story is an AU because the timeline that this story follows sort of slaps the OUAT in the face. It is also AU because obviously there is an Ariel on the show now and this Ariel is not **_**the**_** Ariel. This story is really more for those of you who just really want to read a HookxOC story, not for someone who wants it to follow the show… or any of the rules.**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

**A Whole New World.**

"Hi, Ariel!"

She looked up to find Henry waving at her, a blonde woman at his side. From what she'd heard around town, this was his biological mother who'd gotten the job of Sheriff. Things had been changing around the town and she'd been enjoying the change. Her life had been too stagnant as of late. She needed something to shake things up.

"Hello, Henry!"

"Ariel? Really?" the woman snorted. "And she_ has no legs_. Clever,"

"Shh!" Henry snapped at her, as she rolled closer. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "I'm alright. Is this your mother?"

He nodded. "This is Emma Swan,"

She reached forward. "Nice to meet you, Emma. I'm Ariel Waters,"

She took her hand with an uncomfortable smile. "Cute name,"

"How about you?" she asked, turning her attention back to the boy. "I haven't had you over for tutoring in a week or two now,"

"Sorry, I've been busy. Hopefully I'll be seeing you next week,"

She smiled. "Alright. Have a night day! Nice to have met you, Emma!"

She watched the two of them walk away from her. They looked in a bit of a hurry as the moved down the street, strides long and fast.

She envied people who had legs.

She had them, sure. But they didn't work. She'd been wheelchair bound ever since the car accident where Mr. Gold had t-boned her on Main Street. It had left her paralyzed from the waist down with no hope to ever walk again. Now he paid for her to live. Despite this, Mr. Gold had taken her legs form her and it was something that she just couldn't forgive the man for no matter how hard her psychiatrist, Mr. Archie Hopper, tried to get her to. It was part the wish to walk again and the feeling that she was missing something.

Sometimes she really did feel like her namesake.

She'd rolled from one end of Story Brooke to the other and everywhere in between since the car accident to build up her strength. She was determined to keep herself busy to not let herself fall into the depression that Mr. Hopper was worried about her for but it was hard. There was only so much she could do in Story Brooke and sometimes when her arms ached and she had to ask for help, she wished that she could make a deal with the devil to give her her legs back.

So she tried to keep herself busy in other ways. She'd start out the day swimming in her pool, excursing her body in the only other way she could. She didn't really like swimming much but it was nice to be able to feel free and able to move ever once in a while. It was sometimes better to be a mermaid instead of a cripple.

Next she'd stop by for lunch at Granny's before going to the hospital to volunteer. Usually nothing new happened there but rolling down the halls and keeping people company with her stories made her feel useful. Then she'd go home to wait for the students whose parents paid for her to watch them and tutor them until they got off of work. She'd then end the day eating alone.

But today, as she rolled through her living room to put away her groceries, someone chose to interrupt her daily schedule.

The annoying trill of her doorbell paralyzed her for a moment in shock as the sound rang through her house, bringing her from her thoughts. It wasn't often she got visitors and they almost never rang the doorbell. Mr. Hopper sometimes made house calls to check on her state of mind but he always did the shave-and-a-hair-cut knock. Sometimes Henry came over to study or read his story Book when he needed some quiet. He alternated between knocking and ringing the bell but she'd already seen him today and he wouldn't be coming over for a week. It definitely wasn't Ruby, who visited her the most. Ruby usually let herself in unless the door was locked, and in that case she just shouted until she was forced to unlock the door for her. Knowing this, she wasn't surprised to find someone else at the door; she was just surprised to find a complete stranger.

The man was incredibly handsome, his dark hair was a start contrast to his piercing blue eyes which most women would die for. He had an unkept look about him that she had the feeling was very much practiced. But the odd thing about him was that he was wearing all black leather. It made him look like the lead in a goth band or a twenty-first century version of Jack Sparrow's brother. He only wore his black cotton shirt and black leather, the leather layering him from head to toe.

The shock was the hook that curled out from inside his left sleeve.

He'd originally had a handsomely sarcastic smile on his face that could have won the hearts of many a woman… including all the lonely moms at Disneyland… but as soon as his eyes settled on her face his expression changed. It was as if he had been expecting someone else and then had seen a ghost.

"Meg?"

Adrenaline went through her seven though it wasn't her name. Maybe she had reacted because he was a handsome man who'd mistaken her for someone else (though she had no idea how he could mistake his Meg for her, a woman in a wheel chair). Whatever the reason, she still didn't have that name.

"I'm sorry. You have the wrong house," she told him apologetically, putting her hand on the doorknob to get ready to close it. "Probably wrong street too,"

"Wait!" he exclaimed, throwing his arm against the door to prevent her from closing it.

She eyes went wide when she saw where his hands should have been. Most amputees either had a plastic hand or nothing but this guy had a shiny metal hook. The tip had created a dicot in her door, chipping the white paint a bit.

Her eyes, still as wide as saucers, turned to look up at the man. He seemed more desperate than anything, now looking down at her with a bit of guilt. Regardless however, adrenaline was pumping through her veins and her face was hot with a blush. It got worse as he continued staring at her, emotions in his blue eyes that she was uncomfortable having aimed at her.

Now she was just uncomfortable. "What?"

He seemed to snap out of it when he heard the tone in her voice. The smile she'd originally seen on his face didn't return however, which seemed to be the usual look on his face. Instead his expression was neutral as he looked down at her. He removed his hook from her door and put his hands behind his back, looking as if he were standing at a very cocky attention.

"Sorry, lass. I thought I knew you for a second but you clearly don't know me,"

"… No, I don't," she said with a shake of her head. "So… I'm going to go,"

Before he could put another nick in her door to stop her, she shut the door on him. With the door between them, she could let out a breath, shaking her arms to get rid of the excess adrenaline.

"Okay,"

But then the oddest thing happened…

She remembered.


	2. Trying Not To Live

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**Trying Not To Live. **

She'd been lying on the bottom of the lifeboat for the past six days… it was three days ago that she ran out of water… only yesterday since she started hearing them.

_You killed us._

_You brought this on us. _

_You let him kill us. _

_You let us die._

_You did this to us._

_You brought him home._

_You brought him to us. _

_You let him slit my throat. _

_You let him tear open my chest. _

_You let him eat our baby. _

_You didn't save her. _

_You let her die. _

_Your fault._

_You did this. _

_Your fault._

"I'm sorry,"

She'd been lying on the bottom of the lifeboat for the past six days… it was three days ago that she ran out of water… only yesterday since she started hearing them.

_You killed us._

"What is that?"

_You brought this on us. _

"Man overboard!"

_You let him kill us. _

"Get her aboard. Now!"

_You let us die._

"Heave!"

_You did this to us._

"Step aside! Step aside!"

_You brought him home._

"Who is she?"

_You brought him to us. _

"Who do you think she is?"

_You let him slit my throat. _

"She's almost gone, Captain. Barely a breath,"

_You let him tear open my chest. _

"Let me see her,"

_You let him eat our baby. _

"Get me some water!"

_You didn't save her. _

"Aye aye, Captain,"

_You let her die._

"Just hold on a little bit longer, lass,"

_You did this. _

"Here, Captain,"

_Your fault._

"I'm sorry,"

"It's alright," a new voice told her, one full of sarcasm and life. "Just take a sip of this,"

Her mouth opened as she felt the lip of a bottle touch her mouth. A bit of water entered her throat, choking her with how wet it was in comparison to her own dry mouth. It sent her into the worst coughing fit of her life, one that strained her diaphragm and made her head ache.

"Shh. It's alright,"

A hand rubbed her back to try to sooth her but all it did was warm her back. It had been a long time since she'd been touched, a year or more if her muddled mind could still make out the passing of time. The comfort of touch burned her. She hated it. She didn't deserve it.

"Take her to my quarters,"


	3. The Jolly Rodger

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**The Jolly Rodger.**

Her arms and legs had stopped aching finally. After two months on the ship (the first spent dehydrated and sick in bed), the strength needed to help the crew with the ship was now hers, no longer leaving her body achy and tired. It felt good to have something to keep her busy every minute of every day. There was never a lack of work to be done on the ship and it kept her mind from the dark.

"Meg!"

She jumped at the sound of her own voice, nearly letting go of the rope she'd been trying to tie down. The voice that had shouted it was loud and demanding but, just as the first time she'd heard it, it still had the hint of sarcasm and life.

She turned around to look up at the wheel, seeing the black clad captain looking down at her, his face set in a serious expression. This was the infamous Captain Hook of the Jolly Rodger, otherwise known as Captain Killian Jones. She'd heard of him just the same as she heard of so many others. However, no description of him could have stood up to the real thing that stood upon this very ship.

He was incredibly handsome and charismatic, his personality alone having the ability to coax birds from the tree tops and her herself into eating when all she wanted to do was starve. He had an unkept look about him that she had the feeling was very much practiced. His dark hair was a start contrast to his piercing blue eyes that could turn from snarky to harsh in a second. He only wore his black cotton shirt and black leather, the leather layering him from head to toe. It certainly added to the exotic and intimidating look he, only compounded by the iron hook that curled out from inside his left sleeve. But certainly the most striking thing about him to her was his smile. Every time it appeared, it held nothing but the sarcasm he often displayed in his words and the life that he loved so much.

It was all very intoxicating.

She bowed her head and followed him into his cabin which doubled as the charting room. Half the room filled with a table covered in papers and instruments while the other held a small bed that was never made. She ignored this and turned her attention to the captain who had taken a seat in the ornate throne-like chair that sat behind the table. He was watching her, running his hand over his hook thoughtlessly.

"I see you've been doing better over the past few weeks, milady,"

"Yes. Thank you, Captain Jones,"

She kept her eyes down, her hands twisting together behind her back nervously. It was a habit she seemed to have picked up from… Henry. It was a painful thought that she mentally flinched away from, forcing her hands apart to hang at her sides.

"You will be able to get off at our next port," he continued, not noticing her discomfort. Or simply pretending not to. "I'm sure that you'll be able to find your way home from there. I'll give you a bit of gold in payment for the work you've done on this ship since your recovery,"

Fear made her fingers itch, gripping the edge of her blouse as tightly as she could to try to make the feeling go away. She didn't want to go. She'd finally felt herself forgetting since she'd been pulled aboard this blasted pirate ship. She'd actually felt herself healing. If she left she wasn't sure what would become of her.

"Thank you, Captain," she said in a whisper, her heart slamming against her breast bone. "But…"

"What?"

She took a deep breath, clenching her fist tightly until her nails dug into her palms. "With your permission… I would like to stay on as a part of you crew,"

The few minutes of silence that followed were probably the worse that she'd ever experienced. It made her aware of the hammering of her own heart. It made her aware of her own vulnerability. Her whole existence depended on this one man and his next words.

"Well, then," he sighed, rocking to his feet in a smooth motion. She kept her eyes down as she heard him walk towards her, watched as his boot came into her line of sight, waiting until she could see his full front. She brought her eyes up to meet his blue ones, seeing the humor in them as he looked down at her. "You'll have to get to work then,"

The smile that broke across her face was the first that had graced her face since before the fire. It lit up her face with happiness and relief. He smiled back, the sarcasm gone, leaving only the life and happiness that mirrored her own.

"It is good to see you smile, Meg,"

She bowed her head in thanks and respect. "Thank you for this, Captain Jones. I appreciate this… I really do,"

He nodded and shooed her off back to the deck.


	4. Overboard

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**Overboard. **

It had been four months since she'd been pulled aboard the Jolly Rodger, a little over two months since she'd been brought into the crew under Captain Jones. She loved it aboard the Jolly Rodger, working among the men that could frighten away even some of the bravest soldiers. She loved them all as thoroughly as she could love a band of pirates. They were her friends, men that may have laughed at her when she'd first tried to join in their work but now respected her. They joked with her just as they would with any of their own, talked with her like an equal and didn't think less of her for being a woman. She thanked the heavens for that every day. She thanked the heavens for this unexpected place that helped her feel normal again.

"Careful,"

She gave her captain an indignant look and stepped off the ship.

Today her Captain had asked her to accompany him and his men into port for some business and for buying provisions. It was something she had been thoroughly excited about; seeing a new place, meeting new people. It was all exciting.

But then her Captain had told her to be careful as she moved to step off the ship.

Stepping from the rocking of the ship to the stationary land was easy enough. It was her second step that ruined her. She'd shifted her weight to compensate for the rock of a ship that wasn't beneath her feet. It sent her off balance enough to make her stumble. She could almost see herself falling into the ocean even before her boot didn't find any purchase on the dock. Pain slid up the inside of her leg as the edge of the dock grated along her leg, forcing a pained gasp on the end of the surprised one.

"Whoa!"

The collar of her shirt was tugged up and suddenly her butt met the dock. Her boot and most of her pant leg might have been wet but at least she didn't have to bare the embarrassment of walking back on board after fifteen seconds looking like a drowned rat.

"Falling for me already, are we?"

She looked up at her captain and showed him just how much he appreciated his comment.

"Don't worry, little Meg," he smiled, holding out his hand to help her up. "The first step on land is the most jarring,"

She couldn't meet his eyes as heat flamed her face. "Thank you, Captain,"

"Any time I can save a beautiful woman…"

She rolled her eyes and turned towards port, ignoring Smee's concurring chuckles behind her.


	5. A Fairytale

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**A Fairytale. **

"What happened to him?"

The men of the crew that were standing around her looked over. Never had she asked this question but she'd always been curious about their captain. It wasn't anyone who simply decided to become a pirate. Sure she'd heard the stories from the people of her city, from the books written about him, from the news from the couriers and criers. However, she didn't know the truth about Captain Jones, more famously known as Captain Hook. She wanted to know and there was no better place to find out than his own crew.

"We shouldn't talk about the captain,"

She frowned at Rubin. "Come now. I know a bit of his story already. All I ask is to know the true one," No one seemed to answer her, continuing to meander around trying to find work to do to occupy themselves so they wouldn't have to talk. "Come one, boys. You can't leave me in the dark,"

"Meg!" Xavier growled, looking thoroughly uncomfortable with her. "It's something we don't talk about,"

She frowned at him, crossing her arms and legs to pout on her perch.

"If you won't tell her," a new voice intervened, coming up behind her. "Then I will,"

She turned around to find Smee standing there, his red cap perched atop his head, arms crossed the same as hers. He was a sweet fellow, one that she hadn't thought would become a pirate when she first met him. Even his red wool cap seemed too comfortable to be aboard the ship.

He turned to look at her. "I was one of the last members of the crew so I can't tell you all of the captain's story but I can tell you enough-"

"If Captain hears you, it's your hide," Rubin muttered, walking away towards the bow.

Smee rolled his eyes. "The captain was not always a pirate. He used to be a lieutenant in the king's navy and his brother was a captain to his very ship-"

"The captain had a brother?"

Smee frowned. "Yes. Now don't interrupt, Meg,"

She dropped her eyes but allowed him to continue.

"This ship was built for one purpose; to travel to Neverland to retrieve Nightshade to aid the war effort. The ship had an extra mast made of the feathers of Pegasus that allowed it to fly up into the sky and to the star that leads to Neverland,"

She'd heard of this ship now that she thought about it. It had been a marvel of its time but had supposedly been commandeered by pirates and the crew slaughtered by pirates. She looked around now, towards the front where the magical mast would have been, towards the crew who were once king's men who had fallen off the band wagon.

"The captain's brother asked the captain along to join him on the adventure. The two sailed together, only his brother knowing the destination," Smee continued as she turned back to him. "When they reached Neverland, the two went ashore alone in search of the plant. It is unknown what happened when they went ashore, even to those who were of the crew at that time. All they knew was the plant they'd been in search of was an unnatural poison,"

"The king was looking to further himself in the war,"

"Bad form," Smee nodded. "That was what the brother's called it. An unfair advantage,"

She waited for the end of this story. She knew, if she knew any story, this one would not end with the brothers sailing off into the sunset.

"So they returned to their own world to confront their king. But when they returned to their own waters, the captain was dead. The reason that they knew the Nightshade was a poison was because been plucked by it. Our captain managed to save him but not well enough to save his life,"

"And so he became a pirate," she finished.

Smee nodded.

"Then what is the story of how you came aboard?" she asked, interested as she shifted into a more comfortable position. "And what of the story that leads to the reason that our captain is in search of something to kill the Dark One?"

Smee settled himself next to her, their seat bowing a bit under his weight. "I was kidnapped by a band of pirates… I had a Magic Bean that had been keeping me alive for years at exactly the same age I'd been when I'd found it. The captain and his love wanted it for themselves-"

"His love?" she gaped. Never had she heard the story of Captain Jones having a love. She'd heard whispers of a female crew member, sometimes a kidnapped maiden, other times a mistress to the entire crew, but never his love.

"Shh!" Smee snapped, tapping her hand in scolding. "Yes, the captain has been in love. He fell in love with a beautiful woman named Milah, a mother and a wife of a coward. She'd been in search of adventure and the captain had been just the one to give it to her. She'd been in a. She left her loveless marriage, her life of boredom, her husband and son and sailed away with him. She'd been loved and respected by the crew and they would have done just about anything for the woman their captain loved.

"However, their love hadn't been long lived. After five long years of bliss, they'd gone to port where the captain had met the Dark One. The Dark One had once been her husband and had been looking for revenge for their heart broken son. The captain had tried to keep Milah from harm but she'd gone to his rescue, as was her nature. They tried to bargain for their lives with my bean but the need for revenge was too strong for the Dark One. He ripped out her heart on this very deck, crushed it in his scaled hands as she died in the captain's arms,"

It nearly brought tears to her eyes to hear this horrible story. A story that was so tragic that even the most epic of romances couldn't hold up.

"That was the day the captain's heart had been broken and his hand had been severed from his arm," Smee continued. "That day he got the name Hook,"


	6. A Misstep

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**A Misstep.**

She wiped at her brow with her sleeve, removing the sticky sensation of sweat.

It had been a harsh fight but she'd survived it. She'd probably ended the lives of every idiot that had thought that they could kill her. Granted, they weren't so dumb to think that she had the experience of her fellow crew members but she wasn't helpless. She'd survived and she was proud of herself.

"_MEG!_"

She winced, freezing in place as she realized her misstep. She'd disobeyed her captain.

Slowly, she turned to watch as he stalked towards her, fire in the depths of his blue eyes. Mostly this was a powerful sight to see him so angry, but with it aimed at her it was just frightening.

"What the hell are you doing above deck?!"

She frowned at him but kept her eyes down. "I'm sorry, Captain,"

"Let me tell you how things work on my ship," he growled at her. "I make demands; I ordered you to stay below deck. You follow them; you stay there until the fight was over. Do you see our problem here?"

"Yes, Captain. I am well aware that I've disobeyed you,"

"Then why are you here?"

This time she couldn't keep her eyes down. Brown met blue. "One year ago you allowed me to join your crew. Your crew stands together and protects each other. How could I do that if I was below deck cowering in the corner like a coward?"

"You would have _remained _a part of the crew,"

There was a sudden intake across the deck. However, she and her captain didn't remove their eyes from each other. They continued to glare at each other, daring the other to look away or back down.

"You wouldn't,"

"Oh, I would," he laughed humorlessly. "You disobeyed your captain,"

"I am one of your crew!" she shouted at him, anger taking over her. "How dare you send me below like a babe to be protected!? Why am I any different from any of the other crew members? From Smee, Rubin or Khan?"

"I trust my men to take care of themselves,"

"So what is it you're saying?! That you don't trust me or I can't take care of myself?"

Before he answered her, he stopped and looked about the deck. Every crew member was staring at the two of them. He didn't say anything else, just grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his cabin for some privacy. Once the door was shut, he shoved her into the room for good measure, watching her trip and stumble.

"You dare question me in front of my crew?!"

"You dare discriminate against me?" she snapped back at him, turning around now that she had her footing again. "Because I'm a woman?! Really, Captain?"

"No," he snarled at her. "You know me better than that. If I kept you from a fight simply because you were a woman then you wouldn't be one of my crew,"

She walked right up to him and shoved him, knocking him back into the door hard. "Then what the hell was it?!" she shouted at him, her face red with frustration. "What's changed that made you order me below deck?"

He reached forward and caught the front of her shirt with his hook, tugging her around until she was the one against the door. The force she hit the door mixed with her surprise forced the air from her lungs, her butt stinging as the doorknob jabbed her. He glared down at her, his face inches from hers and his hot breath in her face.

"You have _no_ experience," he snapped at her. "You came to us in a cute little dress with hands softer than silk. Don't pretend that you've ever known a sword in your young life, little Meg. You have learned next to nothing about swordsmanship in your time with us and you expect me to let you on deck to get killed?"

"But I didn't-"

"Beginners luck," He leaned forward until the heat of his breath touched her ear, whispering to her as if it were his deepest secret. "Luck and nothing else,"

She shivered, her sweaty hands pressed against the cold wood of the door.

"I am your captain," he told her harshly, pulling back to look her in the eyes. "Don't think for a second that I am as shallow as you have just thought me to be, Meg. Each order I give has a reason. You are under my protection and I trust you to follow my orders,"

She hated it… but he was right. "I was wrong,"

Now he was smiling again, all of the sarcasm and life rushing back into his face. "Good. Now back to work, deckhand,"

She frowned at him but couldn't argue. She leaned her head back against the door and smirked up at him instead. "I would… but you are in my way,"

If it was possible, his smile grew. She watched him patiently for a count of five heavy breaths before he finally took a step back, bowing his head to her. She rolled her eyes at her captain and turned on her heel, stepping out onto the deck and into the sun to meet the eyes of the crew.

"Back to work!" she shouted.

That only got her a laugh.


	7. Alone Together

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**Alone Together.**

She hadn't been able to sleep that night. It was the rocking of her mind, back and forth between subjects and thoughts, which was keeping her up. So she'd ascended to the deck, lying out on the wood near the wheel as the others kept watch. Her eyes were on the black-blue sky, the stars winking at her, the salt water in the air filling her nose.

The swaying of the ship, the sound of the waves, the soothing breeze was a far better lullaby to her than even her mother's lullabies when she was a babe. Her mother had meant well but she hadn't had the voice for any of her songs to be soothing. Her father had been the one with the voice but had saved it for special occasions.

"Hello, lass,"

She didn't react to the arrival of her captain, just remained staring at the stars. "Captain,"

"What are you doing? Pining away for your captain?"

She snorted at him. "I'm thinking,"

"Of your captain,"

"No,"

"A shame," he sighed, leaning against the railing at her feet, looking down at her. "Then what is it you are doing up this late?"

"I couldn't sleep,"

They stayed their together for a long time, neither speaking, not needing to.


	8. Dead and Dying

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**Dead and Dying. **

"Captain?"

He smiled at her, pain tainting the expression as he stopped in front of her. She didn't return the smile but examined the pained expression behind the smile, the fatigue in his gait and the sheen of sweat across his brow. She might not have been a healer back in the city but she knew the look of a person that was ill. It worried her that she was seeing it before her now.

"_Captain?_"

He was beginning to sway on his feet, his eyes becoming unfocused as he blinked them to try to see her clearly. Without hesitation she tucked herself under his arm just as he suddenly was caught up in a hacking cough that rocked him dangerously. When it was over she smelled fresh blood in the air.

"You're sick," she told him, feeling a bit of her temper flare as she looked up at him. "What the hell were you doing when you were away? Drinking poison to see if it hurt?"

"I apologize, milady,"

"Don't apologize to me, not until you defeat whatever is eating at you,"

With help from Smee she carried her captain to his chambers as his health began to spiral downward, as if the realization that he was very sick had made his body begin to shut down. Together they got him laid out on his bed in nothing but his heavy trousers, revealing how sick he was as they removed his soaked tunic. Water was brought in and she went to work wiping him down and cooling him off as he began to shake.

"Stupid man," she hissed as she brushed back his black hair from his face. "Even he himself believes the stories about how he is infallible,"

She shook her head and whipped away the sweat away from his neck in precise strokes, letting the cloth delve further down and over his defined chest. She pulled back and rinsed the cloth again as Smee sat down on the other side of him, a broth in his hand for the captain.

"If you want, you may leave him to me, Meg," Smee told her gently. "I think I've got it under control now,"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You could not keep me away with a pack of enchanted, vicious, rabid dogs,"

This caused Smee to smile at her and nod his red capped head. "That's my girl,"

"Do you know what has done this to him?" she asked, putting her hand on her captain's forehead as he began to mumble.

"The captain is a strong man," Smee told her firmly, as if he was trying to convince them both of that fact. "He's dealt with a lot since he became the Captain Jones that the world has come to fear and respect… but sometimes memories hold more sway than we give them credit for,"

"_He_ did this to himself?"

"Poison himself?" Smee shook his head. "I'm sure some sniveling coward thought to be clever and poison his drink… but it was the captain's inhibitions that allowed it to happen. He is much too careful to have let such a slip happen otherwise,"

She frowned down at her captain but continued her work.

It was a week before the fever went away and her captain was coherent again. A lot of the week was spent by his side listening to him mutter broken sentences and confused words. It had been a blessing to hear him question her about why she was sitting on his bed instead of laying with him. She'd laughed and forced him to drink more of the bitter smelling brew that Smee had made. Of course, her captain had hated it and gotten most of it on his chin but at least it wasn't vomit like the last time. After she'd wiped his face and made him drink the whole thing he'd fallen back to sleep.

It was a few days later that her captain was trying to get up to take charge again, ignoring the fact that he'd been poisoned for the past two weeks. It was almost painful to watch him try to pull himself to his feet when he hadn't used his legs in weeks. Even his face looked a bit sunken.

"Let me tell you how things work on my ship," he growled at her from his seat on his bed, looking thoroughly warn out. "I make the demands and you follow them. Now let me up,"

"No,"

"No?"

"No,"

He chuckled at her sardonically, shaking his head. "You really are a stubborn one, aren't you?"

"You aren't well, Captain," she told him, ignoring his worlds. "Do you even realize how worried your crew has been over the past few weeks, Captain?"

He shook his head, getting up and pushing past her. She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him pull on his shirt, breathing heavily with the effort. "They don't have to worry anymore, now do they? I'm up and ready to command my ship,"

"How are they supposed to stop worrying when they watch you stumble around on deck looking as you do? You look horrible,"

"Thank you. I really appreciate that. I was feeling really optimistic and now I feel just peachy,"

She didn't laugh, she didn't even smile. She was too angry with him. "Captain, please. Just take a moment. Your crew is worried about you because they care for you," she told him. "… They think you dwell too much on the past,"

He hid it well but she could tell he was hiding a glare behind that smile of his. "I suppose you'll tell me to move on and forget about my losses?"

She laughed. It wasn't a humorous laugh but one that was filled with a pain that spoke of the memories she tried to forget. "I would never tell you to forget. Rather you should remember the good times and let go of the pain. Even though it is difficult…"

The last words were said low so he wouldn't hear it… but he did.

"Your family…" he breathed to her in a gentle voice. "What happened to them?" When she didn't answer him, he smiled teasingly at her, trying to coax her. "Come now, little Meg. One does not decide to go sailing in a life boat with no direction or water and then decide to join a pirate's ship for fun,"

She frowned at the irony of his statement. "They died… I don't have a family anymore," Her eyes watered as she looked up at him, watery brown meeting the soft blue. "I am alive by a cruel accident,"

The captain frowned at her, stepping up to her to put his hands on her shoulders. "Meg… it was no accident that you are alive, nor is it an accident that you found us. This ship can be your new home, your family," he told her with soft words, her eyes serious as he looked upon her. "It's never too late to start over,"

"Get back in bed, Captain," she told him, ignoring his kind words. "If we need you, we'll rouse you but until then, you need your sleep,"

She turned and left him alone, trying to keep the tears at bay.

* * *

**Author's Note: Just because I'm not saying it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it... Review, please.**


	9. The Good Doctor and the Monstrous Man

**Oh Captain, My Captain**

* * *

**The Good Doctor and the Monstrous Man.**

Maybe the fact that no one believed in him drew her to him.

She'd met him when he'd moved into the city. The rumors that she heard as she went into town ever week remained mostly the same each visit. He'd been a wealthy mouse of a boy who depended on his parents for everything. Once his parents had forced him out of their own house, he was moving into the house that hid grandfather had left to him when he'd died. It was also rumored the reason why he was moving he was a mad scientist even at his young age.

The rumors were not far from the truth.

Henry Jekyll was a poor lonely man who shook even when he wasn't nervous. His whole body was so thin that she could see his rib bones through his shirt and his cheek bones underneath the thin layer of skin. He was never stationary either, even when he was sitting. His hands were always twisting in on each other or his eyes were darting around the room to try to keep off the person he was speaking to against his will. All in all, she was surprised he didn't shake right off his bones with this nervous twitching and muttering.

He truly was a scientist as people had believed him to be but not insane. He was simply looking for peace and quiet so that he could work on his experiments. She'd never been truly able to understand what they had been about or for but she'd believed in him.

It had left her open for the worse.

"_Damn it!_"

Henry spun around, wide eyed to look up at where she was perched on one of his many tables, reading one of his many books. He looked aghast about something, slumping his shoulders as he looked upon her. A swath of cloth appeared from his pocket and dabbed at his forehead.

"Please pardon my language, my lady. I did not mean to curse in front of you,"

She waved him off with a smile. "I know worse words, Henry,"

His eyes seemed to grow even wider, his forehead glistening again. "A woman such as you? How could you know such primitive vocabulary?"

She couldn't help but laugh at this. Ever since they had become friends she'd come to realize that just as he was a ball of nerves, he was also nothing but proper. Anything that could be considered gentlemanly, he did so in tenfold. He found it shocking that she sat on his tables with her dresses hiked up and wouldn't look at her until she was sitting in a chair (of course she'd cured him of this). He would always call her _my lady_ and _Miss Margaret_, he'd open the door for her, pull out her seat, escorted her here and there. At first it had been sweet and refreshing, now she just found it silly and a bit annoying.

"Of course," she smiled, hopping down from her perch. "I know them all, dear Henry,"

He seemed horrified.

She leaned forward until her lips touched the underside of his fuzzy chin. He froze beneath her kiss and said nothing else as she went to pull on her shawl. She was leaving now, time to walk home across the country side before it grew dark and the evil things crept out from their hiding places.

"Let me walk you home, Miss Margaret,"

She giggled at him, waving him towards his experiments. "Your slides need more attention than I do tonight. Work while there are still hours in the day left to you. I can find my way home perfectly,"

Of course he argued as he usual did. However, when she mentioned his progress over the past few weeks she could see the yearning in his eyes.

"Good bye, Henry," she waved. "Make sure to get some sleep,"

She felt his eyes on her back long after she left the house. When she looked back, she could see him in the window of his laboratory, seeing her to the edge of the hills.

That night, she fell asleep with a sense of dread weighing on her soul.

The roaring growls were what woke her. Not her mother's shouts, the shrill screams of her little sister or the cries of her baby brother. She had sprung out of her bed in fright, fighting the blankets that tangled around her legs as she reached her door. She threw open her door and raced towards the terrible growling that sent chills down her spine. Her mother's shouts were desperate words that were muffled by the walls that separated them and then cut off in a choking sob.

Then her baby brother stopped crying.

Everything was suddenly very quiet.

She almost froze on the spot, stopping to listen for her mother, her brother, her sister, her father, even the chilling growls of the monster. But no sound reached her ears reached her ears except for her ragged breaths and mouse-like squeaking coming from her little sister's room. She waited, afraid to move for fear of missing the sound of the predator that had invaded their home.

The smell of blood filled the air around her and she couldn't believe the nightmare.

"_Maggie!_"

The sound of her sister's voice put her in action. She threw herself against her sisters door, coming face to face with a true monster. Though backlit by the window in her sisters room, she could see the hulking figure who watched her like a predator that'd just caught his prey. He stood in the center of the room, his thick shoulders hunched in the darkness of his cloak. From what she could see of his face in the dim light, his face was covered in an unruly beard which his most of his face from sight, leaving on his eyes. Bloodshot redness surrounded the deadly black that watched her, daring her to do something interesting. What might have been more frightening about his appearance was the blood. The liquid red covered his front, was splattered across his face and covered his hands. This, she could not doubt, was the blood of her mother, father and baby brother. However, this still was not the most frightening thing about him. It was the fact that in his arms stood her frightened little sister.

"A beautiful doll," he murmured darkly, brushing the knuckles of his clawed hand against the girl's cheek. It was terrible to watch, having to stand alone as her sister quaked in the monster's arms, tears coursing down her face. "A gorgeous little play thing,"

"Don't you touch her!"

This seemed to please the monster, raising a furry eyebrow as the side of his mouth twitched horribly in a dark amusement. "Oh? And what will you do… whine?"

He leaned over the little girl, his eyes remaining on the elder sister as he flicked his tongue out, catching his captive's cheek. She jerked away with a shriek that almost had her big sister running for her but there was no hope.

The monster let out a laugh that shook the house, one that made both girls never want to laugh ever again. "I think I'll keep this one… she pleases me a great deal," His black eyes turned back to the eldest, his lips curled up and showing his jagged teeth. "And I can understand why he would want you, wench… you certainly are soft and innocent, read to be taken,"

In a flash of movement, the monster and her sister were out the window and disappearing into the darkness of the night. All she could do was listen to her sister's frightened screams.


End file.
